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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Breckenridge Brewery presents another reason to celebrate the holidays: Christmas Ale in mini-kegs

Breckenridge Brewery of Colorado is releasing its annual holiday beer, Christmas Ale, in a new package – the 5-liter/1.32-gallon mini-keg. Yielding ten pints, the festive package is just right for holiday gatherings. "I can't wait to share a mini-keg of Christmas Ale with a handful of friends," shares Todd Thibault, Director of Marketing for Breckenridge Brewery. "I just love everything about this package. It's relatively new in the US, but there's a lot of synergy with craft beer drinkers in the way it brings folks together around good beer."

The mini-keg is produced by Huber Packaging Group headquartered in Ohringen, Germany. “Nothing tastes better than a freshly tapped glass of beer, and there’s no better way to enjoy than with friends and family,” shares Markus Britsch, head of Huber Packaging’s Beverage Unit Business. “The 5-liter mini-keg is a popular German favorite to celebrate good times at home or beer garden, at family gatherings and festive occasions. It’s great to see Breckenridge build on the European heritage and create its own holiday tradition, starting with Christmas Ale."

Breckenridge Brewery first introduced Christmas Ale in 1993 and has been brewing this recipe for the holiday season since. This beer is known for its heartiness and rich flavors of caramel and chocolate. Unlike many holiday and winter beers, Breckenridge doesn't add any spice to its Christmas Ale. The spicy characteristics of this ale come from the Chinook and Mt. Hood hops. It's a strong ale at 7.4% alcohol by volume, but alcohol isn't a prominent flavor after this beer's 4-week cold conditioning.

In addition to the new mini-kegs, Christmas Ale is available in 12-oz bottles and 1/2-barrel kegs. Soon brewery employees will gather together to hand label liter gift bottles of Christmas Ale, as is their holiday tradition. The gift bottles will be available later in November.

"It's going to be a very memorable holiday season," Thibault concludes, with a smile.